This invention relates to a process for cooking eggs or parts thereof, having the steps of removing the egg from its shell, introducing the egg or part thereof into a mould and moving the mould through at least a first chamber, thereby subjecting the mould containing the egg to a heat treatment so as to cook the egg. The invention furthermore relates to a device for cooking eggs or parts thereof.
The production of large to very large quantities of prepared eggs in various forms on an industrial scale should be carried out by applying a process and matching devices showing a sufficient flexibility to treat the eggs every time in the required way. By xe2x80x9cpreparation of eggsxe2x80x9d is meant the boiling, poaching or deep frying of eggs, and also, whenever it is feasible, the preparation of the component parts thereof.
It is thus a particular aim of the invention to prescribe a process and a device enabling to boil, if required deep fry or poach, heavy eggs (58-65 g) on an industrial scale without losses.
The European Patent Application no. EP-A-0,317,349 describes a device and a process for cooking egg components on an industrial scale, more particularly their separate component parts, i.e. the egg white and the yolk, in an egg-shaped form. The egg components are transported in moulds by means of a conveyor through a single heating chamber in the form of an oven. The extremely complicated device according to this patent application is in no way suitable for preparing eggs in various forms.
In Japanese patent publication JP 60224468, a device is described which is exclusively designed to boil eggs in their shell, the device comprising a main cooking chamber using steam or hot gas at a higher temperature, preceded by a hot water preheating chamber, but such preheating is only suitable for eggs when cooked in their shells. JP-A57/198070 and US-A-4686896 relate to a device for the preparation of boiled eggs involving but one single heating chamber.
None of the processes and/or devices described in the above quoted documents is able to produce eggs in various forms on an industrial scale. There is thus a need for a process and device with which the range of cooking conditions which can be achieved when using an automatic cooking device can be extended, so as to be able to prepare eggs with greater flexibility and in a wider variety of different forms.
It is an aim of this invention to provide a process and likewise a device for cooking eggs, each of the general type identified above, to be capable of cooking eggs in a wide variety of manners by using technically reliable and structurally simple means. A particularity of the invention is the high degree of flexibility it affords.
According to the invention, the device consists of two successive chambers through which two conveyor chains circulate in parallel planes, and moulds suspended between these conveyor chains, while means are provided to maintain vapour in the first chamber at a temperature to bring the eggs at the end of their course through the first chamber superficially in a state allowing the further circulation of the moulds with the eggs through the second chamber filled with a boiling liquid or vapours (steam).
According to a particular embodiment of the invention, the above said moulds consist of cavities provided in bars which are suspended by their extremities, by means of pins attached to above said chains.
In a possible embodiment, means are provided to treat said above moulds, downstream of the above said second chamber, first with water under pressure and then at least once with compressed air, and further means are provided to rotate above said bars about their geometrical axis, more particularly substantially before or at the location where pressurized water and the location where compressed air are injected.
Other details and advantages of the invention will show from the following description of a process and a device for producing eggs in various forms. This description is exclusively given as an example and does not limit the invention. The reference numbers refer to the attached figure.